Today, I would like to share some background on appropriations from Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Charities USA.

Each year, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate negotiate how to spend U.S. taxpayer dollars through a process called appropriations. Every February, the Executive branch, which spends the money appropriated by the Legislative branch, sends a budget proposal to Congress.

Of the $4 trillion U.S. federal budget, only one-quarter, or a little over $1 trillion is defined as discretionary spending, or money that Congress decides how to spend each year. The other three-quarters is mandatory spending, or expenditures that are permanently designated in law, such as Social Security.

After Congress receives the President’s Budget Request, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees each develop their own plans for spending taxpayer dollars for the upcoming fiscal year. Each Chamber of Congress conducts hearings, accepts outside requests related to spending from constituents, drafts legislation, and debates the spending bills in Committee before voting on the legislation in the full Chamber.

After each Chamber passes their own appropriations bills (there are twelve in total that fund the various agencies of the government), the House and Senate meet in conference to debate the differences between the bills. After they negotiate and come to a compromise, they pass the bills and send them to the President to sign into law. Congress is expected to complete this process before the beginning of the next fiscal year, which is at the end of September.

Historically, about 1% of total spending is appropriated to foreign assistance as part of two appropriations bills: the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs bill, which funds the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Agriculture bill, which funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Half of that 1% (roughly $25 billion) is directed toward poverty-reducing humanitarian and development aid. Through funding from these governmental agencies, organizations such as CRS partner with the U.S. government to implement development and humanitarian programming.

While foreign assistance has large bipartisan support, each of the last three years, the Administration has proposed to reduce foreign aid by 30%. Thanks to constituent voices, Congress has rejected these cuts and largely maintained U.S. investments in poverty reduction programming.

What’s the connection between hunger and appropriations?

As the world’s wealthiest nation and the largest provider of international humanitarian assistance, the United States plays a key role in protecting and promoting the global common good, addressing chronic causes of poverty, and responding to complex humanitarian emergencies. U.S. leadership inspires other nations and donors to give generously and sets policy agendas for alleviating poverty. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is a recipient of these public funds, which support key CRS programs that address global hunger. CRS also receives private funds, especially from Catholic Church partners and foundations, allowing us to innovate, be flexible, and scale up quickly during emergencies.

To respond to the needs of those who experience hunger and address the root causes of poverty, CRS depends on the U.S. government continuing to support robust funding for foreign assistance. Advocating with members of Congress on appropriations is an important way to influence how the U.S. government prioritizes relief and assistance overseas. Many of the food security projects CRS implements, including Feed the Future in Ghana and Rwanda, Food for Peace in Guatemala and Ethiopia, Emergency Food Security Programs in Nigeria and Somalia, and McGovern-Dole in Honduras and Sierra Leone come directly from U.S. government appropriations.

In the United States, nutrition assistance programs provide opportunities for local Catholic Charities agencies and others to supplement the unmet nutrition needs of local communities and allows these agencies to develop programs for addressing poverty. Working together with the federal nutrition programs, these agencies provide access to food and resources to promote greater self-sufficiency for people in need. Through this partnership, and the support of generous donors, Catholic Charities helped provide food assistance to more than 5 million people in need last year.

In 2018, Congress reauthorized key domestic and international food security programs through the Farm Bill and Global Food Security Act. Given the current and potential food security challenges, we ask Congress to ensure these accounts are robustly funded.

Thanks to Sr. Betsy Van Deusen, whose many titles include CRS and CCHD Diocesan Director, for coordinating the visits locally.